Get Up, Stomp Yo Feet, & Get Down

I’ve gotten back into a habit of hitting the gym every morning and not skipping a beat. That Fitspiration post and the Nike Make Yourself campaign have truly inspired me to be the epitome of good health. There is never a dull moment when I hate working out, evening if I’m pushing myself to the limit. No pain, no gain, right? Being fit is a challenge but it’s also a fun time to reflect on important life decisions and say goodbye to all the mean words anybody has ever said to you. Anger shouldn’t be your only motivation when running on the treadmill, but it sure is a great motivation!

Working out and being active is all about getting up, stomping yo feet, and getting down! Those actions are what getting pumped is all about, even if you’re cutting it up on the dance floor. But as usual, it’s hard to get motivated unless you’ve got those songs that make your body twitch and put you into hyper-speed. Whenever I have those moments where I’m dead tired, I’ll put on specific tracks, as if I was taking a shot of adrenaline. Music is my adrenaline, it’s my drug, and it’s essential to having an epic work out.

Check out some great dance tracks I use to get hyped, especially “Battle for Middle You.” It’s the track that inspired this post and it’s one of my favorite songs by Julio Bashmore. It has the lyrics “People get up, stomp yo feet, and get down.” That’s awesome!

Julio Bashmore – Battle For Middle You

Phonat – “Set me free” music video

Cassius – Youth Speed Trouble Cigarettes

Lady Gaga – Marry The Night (Zedd Remix)

I love the Zedd remix of this song! I saw a stripper on America’s Got Talent dance to it and fell in love with it! Okay, wait, that sounded strange. Let me just post the stripper and you’ll see, this song rocks and he was pretty talented! I would never be a stripper or anything, but hey it’s kind of like an art form. Some people are really talented.  Of course he didn’t make it to the finals, but it’s okay, I wasn’t routing for him. My hope is that Team iLuminate wins AGT talent, fingers are crossed!

Dizzee Rascal & Armand Van Helden – Bonkers (Video)

Lets go bonkers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

©Jasmine McGee.ThinkSoul25. http://thinksoul25.com

Brown Skin Miss Universe

I’m finally back on the Internet, but at least I didn’t have to suffer in misery while waiting for Verizon to get it together. Comcast came out on Saturday and hooked everything up that evening, so I’ve been enjoying TV a lot the last few days. The season finale of Curb Your Enthusiasm was so hilarious and the new episode of Always Sunny in Philly Comes on tomorrow; I can’t wait!

So many good shows come on during the fall, but one of my favorite things to watch every year is the Miss Universe pageant. I may not be a big fan of Donald Trump (he sponsors Miss Universe and Miss America pageants) but I do enjoy seeing so many beautiful women from around the world and their gorgeous evening gowns. I don’t have a problem with women participating in pageants, I just have an issue with little girls on Toddlers and Tiaras dressing in such provocative clothing. If you’re going to be provocative, at least be the proper age and have provocative worthy assets. I’m just saying.

I know men probably like to check out Miss Universe for the swimsuit wear, that’s okay too. I’m not some mad ranting feminist that is against pageants and women showing off their beauty. I only have an issue when women try to get a man to take care of everything for them and don’t see it fit to have a real career, these women are essentially known as “golddiggers” or “basketball wives.” I’m really against marrying/dating someone just because of their status or bank account, it’s pitiful. If you’re going to get a man that is extremely successful, then at least do yourself a favor and have a career & money of your own as well.

But I digress. Golddiggers or not, the women in Miss Universe this year truly showed off the variety of beauty across the world. While most of the women in the Miss America pageant tend to always be super skinny White women, the Miss Universe women come in a variety of size, shapes, and colors. One of the women this year, Miss China, happened to be 6ft tall (same height as me) and had a collection of over 200 heels. Tall girls represent!

A Miss America hasn’t won the Miss Universe title since 1997, but can you blame them? Why pick just a typical blond or brunette White girl from America when you have a international collection of curvy exotic women. A lot of the women at this years competition where fit but still had curves and needless to say, a lot of the Latina women and the winner Miss Angola had some junk in the trunk. It just goes to show that American fashion images shouldn’t be the standard of beauty, exotic curves should be celebrated. I’m not saying go out there and get butt implants and big boobies, but if you’re curvy then tone it up and work with what you’ve got.

I’m glad that this years winner, Leila Lopes who represented Angola, was a brown skin sistah with curves. It’s rare to see a lot of Black women make the top 10 in the pageant, but her evening gown was stunning and she walked with such poise. The dress was perfect for her 5’10” figure and her hairstyle was such an elegant choice, she totally showed that Black women rock! Seriously, she really did her thing and became the first African Miss Universe. It usually goes to a Latina or some other exotic beauty, but this year it actually went to a brown skin beauty.

Of course you’ve got naysayers out there every year with this pageants and the winners chosen, but who cares! The 25 year old is doing things for her country to help fight aids and poverty, so she isn’t just an airhead marching off her beauty. So, congrats Miss Angola for becoming the Miss Universe 2011 and continue being that beautiful brown skin sistah that walks with the epitome of elegance. You go girl!

©Jasmine McGee.ThinkSoul25. http://thinksoul25.com